Author Information: Issa

Issa had a difficult life. The eldest son of a poor farmer, he was soon orphaned, and later in life his wives and several children died before him. Issa wrote poems with such compassion for all living creatures that he became (with Bashō and Buson) one of the three most loved poets in the haiku tradition. Issa was especially sensitive to insects, which are usually ignored or scorned in the literature of the Western world.